


Cap on Ice

by monkey_and_music_lover



Series: What'd I Miss [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Ice Skating, Phil is Clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-04
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 06:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7673713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkey_and_music_lover/pseuds/monkey_and_music_lover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Melinda finally convinces Phil to go ice skating with her. But things don't go exactly as planned... for either of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cap on Ice

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Everyone!
> 
> I really am loving writing for this series so I hope you guys tell me what you think and even come up with prompts or requests if you have them! I'm really open! :)
> 
> This is the Ice Skating "date" referenced in the first story. I tried making it 3-Person omniscient so you could see exactly what is going on from both perspectives. Let me know how it went! And again, open for prompts and requests. :)
> 
> Enjoy~

Phil’s arms waved frantically in the air as he slid crashing into the wall. For a moment he contemplated what had compelled him to dawn on the bladed death trap people call ice skates. His balance was mediocre at best and he had sworn off this godforsaken activity after falling flat on his face as a child.

 

Before he could curse whoever invented this damned “hobby”, Melinda came gliding to his side with poorly hidden amusement. Ah, right. That’s what - or rather who - had convinced him to come out today. 

 

“Doing alright there, Captain America,” she smirked as she continued skating circles around him.

 

He had appeared on her doorstep late that afternoon wearing a Captain America safety helmet with matching knee and elbow pads. On the drive to the ice rink, Melinda had convinced him to get rid of the safety pads, but he had been adamant about the helmet, much to her entertainment. 

 

“Cap was never supposed to be on ice,” Phil argued with pout. “In fact, ice is probably his worst enemy. It separated him from all his friends, family and Peggy.”

 

Melinda finally released a laugh at his proclamation, well aware the injustice he believed happened to his favorite comic book hero. After watching him feign hurt for a moment longer, and almost falling on his butt despite being fairly static, Melinda paused in front of him.

 

“Here, let me help you,” she offered while taking his hands. 

 

Melinda pulled Phil away from the wall and guided him to the entrance of the rink. After she made sure he was steadily standing, her hands reached up and gently took the helmet off of his head. 

 

“First things first,” she began as she threw the helmet near their bags, “you need to feel safe and comfortable on the ice. That won’t happen if you’re wearing a helmet expecting to break your neck.”

 

Before he could argue his case, Melinda came over to him and ran her hands through his hair. His face began to feel hot and he prayed to a god he didn’t really believe in that she wouldn’t noticed. 

 

“Plus, that helmet made you look like an overgrown 10-year-old,” she smirked fixing the last of his helmet head. 

 

Note to self, he thought shamelessly, give Melinda more of a reason to run her hands through his hair. Maybe start by throwing away your comb. 

 

When Phil froze, Melinda immediate regretted her action. Was this too forward? Was he completely uninterested? Maybe she overstepped her boundary? She had never been one to be so upfront when it came to him. Perhaps they needed to take a few steps back. 

 

“There all better,” she amended with her hands tucked behind her back. “Now try following me.”

 

Melinda began to skate backwards and watched Phil’s attempt to go forward. His knees were buckled and arms were waving around in the air. He may have moved a total of 5 inches before bumbling and relying on the wall for balance. 

 

“Alright, so you need to bend your knees a little,” Melinda instructed as she crouched down to push his knees slightly out. “And make sure you hands stay in front of you the entire time. If you ever feel uneasy, you can place your hands on your knees and it’ll stop you from completely falling over.” 

 

Slowly, he followed her instruction and tried to move once again. He travelled one foot and turned his head to smile proudly back at his teacher. 

 

“Good,” she acknowledged, “Now if you want to move faster than a turtle, turn your feet into a ‘V’ and used one of them to push the other ahead.”

 

Again, Phil attempted to go forward and found himself go farther in one motion than he had been before. He slowly repositioned his feet and tried it using the opposite foot before catching on and slowly skating a slow lap. 

 

“Look Mel,” he exclaimed happily, looking back at his coach, “I’m not fa--”

 

Before he could finish his sentence, he collided with another skater and landed promptly on his butt. 

 

“Oh my god, I am so sorry,” the female voice apologized as she stood up and offered him a hand. “Wait, Phil?”

 

Phil looked up from the outstretched hand and saw one of the new women working in accounting. 

 

“Audrey,” he smiled as he finally accepted her assistance and stood up. “Fancy bumping into you here.”

 

Audrey giggled as his pun, always adoring his sense of humor. On her first day, he had seen her struggling to carry two boxes up to her office and had helped her. Along the way, he cracked joke after cheesy joke and she couldn’t help but find it quite charming. 

 

“I didn’t know you skated,” she beamed, obviously looking him up and down. 

 

“I didn’t until now.”

 

Before their conversation could carry on, Phil saw Melinda skate quickly into their direction with concern. 

 

“Are you okay,” she asked both parties before fully registering Audrey’s presence.

 

“We’re both fine, just a bit clumsy and inattentive,” Audrey responded bashfully. “I didn’t mean to ruin your date.”

 

“Oh don’t worry, it’s not a date,” Phil replied quickly, hiding his disappointment. “Melinda was just showing me how to skate. She used to be a figure skater, actually.”

 

Melinda concealed her flinch at his rebuke with a small smile. “It really wasn’t much. I just skated for a few years, nothing major or professional.” 

 

“Mel, don’t be so modest.” 

 

Audrey looked between the two of them with slight confusion as they argued this mote point. Though she did have a crush on Phil, she had always been under the impression that the two lawyers were together. The dynamic and chemistry between them was undeniable, but she may have been jumping to conclusions. Nonetheless, it looked as though they were having a good time and she decided to make herself scarce. 

 

“Hey, I have to get going,” Audrey told them, awkwardly interrupting their bickering, “But let’s meet up if you’re free, Phil.” 

 

“Yeah,” Phil beamed unknowingly, “I’ll give you a call later on.”

 

Melinda watched the interaction as her feeling betrayed her. Of course Phil wasn’t interested, he had been flirting with Audrey since she first started. She reprimanded herself for almost ruining their friendship over an inaccurate assumption. 

 

After they exchanged their goodbyes and Audrey skated off and out of the rink, Phil turned back to Melinda. She was his best friend in the whole world, but Phil couldn’t help but feel as though he lacked other office friends seeing as they spent all their time together. They met everyone out for drinks once in awhile, but sometimes he longed for other close companions. Plus, he had always thought he and Audrey would make great friends. 

 

“She’s really great isn’t she?” Phil commented cluelessly before deciding he was ready for their next lesson. “What should we work on next, coach?”

 

“Actually,” Melinda yawned, “I’m getting pretty tired. Maybe we should just call it quits for today, I mean you’ve made some great improvements and we wouldn’t have to tempt fate.”

 

Phil masked his disappointment with a nod. “Did you want to grab dinner then, we can do take out and a movie. I have a fresh bottle of scotch.” 

 

Melinda contemplated the offer briefly before deciding she really needed to give herself a little more space after this misunderstanding. 

 

“Sorry Phil, I promised Fury that I’d come in tomorrow to get some of our paperwork out of the way,” she lied, “Plus, Skye and I were going to practice some martial arts and you know how we like to get up early to do Tai Chi before hand.” 

 

Daisy, known to them as Skye, was one of the teenage girls that Phil and Melinda had mentored back when their were in college. Phil, who roped Melinda into joining, was part of an outreach program that helped failing students in middle school improve before high school. Skye and Melinda had a rocky start in the beginning, but now Melinda was like a mother to the girl and they met regularly to work on other skills and spar. 

 

“Oh, right,” Phil agreed, “That’s fine. I should probably have an early night since we didn’t get much sleep during our last case.”

 

With a curt nod, Melinda began to skate towards the exit before she realized Phil was still moving much slower than she was. With a smirk and small shake of her head, Melinda raced back to him and grabbed his hand to help him along faster. 

 

Phil relished the feeling and fit of her hand in his while he watched her move slightly ahead of him. He felt his heartbeat increase and if it hadn’t been for the gloves, he knew Melinda would feel his sweaty palms. 

 

“Hey Mel,” he tugged her to a stop momentarily. She turned to look at him with worried, inquisitive eyes that he found absolutely beautiful. “I was just wondering,” he nervously began, “maybe sometime we could--”

 

Just as he gathered the courage to ask her the question that had been lingering on his mind for years, a group of kids came racing between them and effectively caused their hands to pull apart. And just as it had come, the moment had also gone away. The two adults looked from the speeding children back at each other and Melinda moved closer to him to fill the small gap the children had created. 

 

“What’s on your mind, Phil?”

 

He looked into her searching eyes and gave her a small smile. “It’s nothing, nevermind.” 

 

With another signature nod, Melinda grabbed his hand again and guided him the rest of the way out. As they both sat down and switched their footwear, Phil couldn’t help but look over at his partner longingly. Maybe tonight might not have been the perfect time, but he just knew it was coming soon. 


End file.
